1. Field of Art
The invention generally relates to the field of optical scanners and more specifically to an apparatus for scanning bound volumes such as books.
2. Background Information
Scanning printed material such as books, magazines, and other documents into digital form has become common with the advent of improved imaging, storage and distribution techniques. Although many types of unbound printed material can generally be scanned with relative ease using automatic page-feeding mechanisms such as those commonly found on digital copiers and scanners, bound volumes present additional challenges.
Various mechanisms have been developed to enable scanning of bound volumes. For example, a traditional flat-bed platen scanner typically scans one or two page-sides of bound volumes in a face-down position. However, for best results, a flat-bed scanner typically requires the application of force to the spine or binding of the volume to insure that the face-down pages come within the scanner's depth of field. Such force can damage the binding. In addition, using the flat-bed platen scanner is a tedious and time-consuming process as the pages typically must be manually manipulated and the bound volume correctly repositioned after each page is scanned. Further, image quality is often poor due to loss of focus or contact with the scanning surface, uneven illumination, and distortion caused by page curvature in the vicinity of the binding. Other mechanisms, such as face-up scanners, typically still require tedious manual manipulation of the pages into position and, if automated, are excessively complex and cost prohibitive.